A Spa man with a behavioural disorder, found walking along the motorway at night in a suicide bid, has been badly let down by the medical system, it was claimed.

Police found Spencer Craig, of Singer Hill, wandering along the M5 between junctions six and seven, on the northbound carriageway, Worcester Magistrates heard last Wednesday.

Defending, Mark Sheward, said the 23-year-old, who lives with his mother, had been let down by the medical system.

He said Craig, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was trying to commit suicide when he was found, in the early hours of the morning, on Saturday, October 18. "He tried to alleviate his symptoms with alcohol," said Mr Sheward. "It beggars belief that he has not been given any help with his condition. He has been let down by the medical system," Mr Sheward added.

Lesley Ashton, for the prosecution, said the police officers who found him had tried to help Craig.

"The officers who attended the incident found him extremely agitated and distressed," said Miss Ashton.

"They feared for his safety and so took him in, to prevent injury to himself or others."

Craig pleaded guilty to the charge of being a pedestrian on a motorway and also to a second charge of being drunk and disorderly, on Friday, October 24, 2003, when police were called to a disturbance outside an address in Worcester.

"His eyes were glazed and he smelled of intoxicants," said Miss Ashton.

Deputy district judge Graham Parsons said he gave Craig credit for his guilty pleas and fined him £25 for each offence plus £50 costs.